One minister has said that a push by the government to increase the use of imperial measures after Brexit will bring British “culture” back into the shops.
Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement this Friday to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to pave the way for greater use of pounds, ounces, feet and inches.
Seeming to confirm the plan, Technology Minister Chris Philp told Sky News: “It is allowing some of our national culture and heritage to return to the shelf.”
The government has been accused of trying to “arm nostalgia” among Brexit voters at a time when the cost of living crisis is affecting families in distress.
Denying that ministers were ignoring more important issues, Philp said, “The government is throwing everything into this cost of living problem, as we should rightly do.”
The government is preparing to open a consultation on how to incorporate even more imperial measures after Brexit. Number 10 hopes that the measure can strengthen support for voting areas.
Labor MP Angela Eagle said the move was a “pathetic” attempt to “arm the nostalgia”.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns also criticized the move. He said “none” of his constituents called for imperial measures.
“This is not a Brexit freedom. It is nonsense,” said Ms Kearns, who said she no longer trusted Johnson in the wake of the Partygate scandal.
His Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, another critic of the prime minister, said he was retaking imperial measures as a desperate attempt to “target and chase a section of the electorate”.
The chairman of the select defense committee said: “There will be people in our party who will like this nostalgic policy in the hope that it will be enough to win the next election. But this is not the case. This is not a conservative thinking of a single nation that is required to appeal beyond our base. ”
The EU Weights and Measures Directive came into force in 2000, with the legal obligation for traders to use metric units for the sale by weight or measurement of fresh produce.
It is still legal to set the price of goods in pounds and ounces, but they should be shown next to the price in grams and kilograms.
The Independent understands that he has been told that there will be no departure from metric units, but the consultation will examine where it makes sense to incorporate or change to imperial measures such as feet and yards, and combs and gallons.
It is part of a broader effort by Whitehall to review what EU regulations remain in the UK’s statutory books after Brexit.
Johnson is said to be planning a “bonfire” of EU regulations to try to bolster support among Brexit MPs and voters. A list of rules to be repealed will be announced along with the Brexit Freedom Bill, according to i News.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that a middle-income family will be around £ 800 worse this year, even after the additional £ 15bn support package announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week.
The Commons Library analysis shows that two average full-time employees earning £ 33,790 each will pay an additional £ 220 this year.